
Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron · St Kilda VIC · Melbourne
Waterside Wedding · Region: VIC - St Kilda · City: Melbourne · Venue: Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron
Balloons on the rooftop, a veil that would not stay down in the sea breeze, and kitesurfers skimming the bay behind a kiss on the sand. Joanna and Sam’s Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron wedding put a summer ceremony on the clubhouse roof in St Kilda, then moved everyone into the Harbour Room for speeches, a pink sky over the marina and a dance floor lit in blue. We were right there with them, and we loved every minute.
















































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Getting ready at QT Melbourne and at home · Rooftop ceremony under a balloon arch · Family groups above the pier · Portraits on St Kilda Beach · Speeches in the Harbour Room · Sunset balcony and dancing
Sam’s morning started in the city at QT Melbourne, and the hotel gave us two very different looks within a few steps. In a dark corridor we stood him beside a glowing neon script on the wall and let everything else fall away to black, a frame that sings in black and white. Then we took the boys up to the rooftop terrace, where Sam told a story with one finger raised and a friend cracked up with the CBD towers lined up behind them. Busy city backgrounds work for groom photos when we keep the people close, sharp and laughing.
Across town, Joanna’s place was relaxed: family stretched out on a grey couch in front of the balcony doors, someone cross-legged on the rug, nobody in a hurry. Joanna and her girls laughed together in blush and white robes with glasses of white wine in hand, and we kept the big window beside them so the light wrapped softly around their faces. When the gown came out we went in close on the lace and tulle, because fine textures like that read best in soft, even daylight from a large window rather than under any lamp.
As the dress went on the room got louder. A bridesmaid tucked and fastened while Joanna laughed over her shoulder, and nearby a guest in a straw hat and pink bow tie straightened an older loved one’s tie. A family member waited in the doorway with a hand fan, a hint of the warm afternoon outside. Then everyone spilled onto the back lawn: Joanna with her pink and white roses among loved ones, then between her two bridesmaids in floaty white dresses, before one quiet minute on the couch in the window light.
At the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, Sam and the boys lined up under the big lettering on the clubhouse front before heading up to the roof, where guests were greeting each other on the green turf with St Kilda Beach glittering below. A cloud of white balloons framed the ceremony spot against the bay. It was a bright, warm afternoon, so the rows were all sunglasses and hand fans, and a little boy in a waistcoat watched everything from a lap. On a rooftop with no shade we keep the sun behind our couples where we can, so nobody squints.
Joanna came onto the rooftop on her dad’s arm, with a loved one in a grey and white floral dress on her other side, and the breeze off the bay lifted her veil straight up behind her. We love wind like that for a processional: it puts movement into every frame without anyone trying. The bridesmaids’ white dresses rippled as they took their places, there was a quick hug for a front-row guest, and Sam shook Joanna’s dad’s hand at the front. Then the two of them stood under the balloon arch with the water behind them.
Joanna and Sam signed at a little round white table with the beach and the city skyline behind them, and the guests clapped and cheered as they stood. Out on the open deck beside the ceremony we caught a kiss on its own, a frame we kept in black and white. Then came the hugs, rows of them, with St Kilda Pier stretching out over the water behind every embrace. For family groups we used the railing on the bay side, so each line of loved ones had the water and the pier at their backs.
For portraits we started close, against the clubhouse’s pale render and a dark green hedge, then walked the bridal party down to the sand. Kitesurfers were out in force, bright kites hanging over the bay, so we got low and framed Joanna and Sam’s kiss with them in the sky. The bridesmaids kicked up their heels, everyone walked arm in arm along the beach, and a last kiss at a railing above the water came with a kite right on cue. This is the joy of Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron wedding photos: the beach is a short walk away.
Inside the Harbour Room, the white balloons had moved in behind the bridal table and a clear card box full of flowers sat waiting for wishes. We went table to table for guest portraits while the room was still full of daylight from the big bay windows. Joanna and Sam danced their way in past the DJ, arms in the air, and the speeches began soon after. One speaker had the bridal table in fits, the bridesmaids laughing behind their hands, and when Sam took the microphone Joanna watched him with a wide smile.
Then the sky over the marina turned pink. We took Joanna out to the balcony, where her bridesmaids kissed her on both cheeks with the pier and the moored boats glowing behind, and families took turns at the railing while the colour lasted. Sunset light like that gives you ten or fifteen minutes, so we keep a balcony plan ready during dinner. Back inside, the dance floor filled fast: Joanna danced with an older loved one, Sam twirled another, a little girl was swept up in a hug, and the night closed with the two of them dancing in blue haze.
Joanna and Sam used every level of the club. The ceremony happened on the rooftop turf under a cloud of white balloons, with family groups lined up along the bay-side railing straight afterwards. Downstairs, we started portraits by the clipped hedge and pale walls of the clubhouse before walking the bridal party onto St Kilda Beach. Then it was into the Harbour Room for the grand entrance, speeches and dancing, with a quick trip onto the balcony when the sky changed colour.
This was a proper summer day: strong sun overhead, sunglasses and hand fans in every row, and a steady breeze off the water. That breeze was our friend, because it lifted Joanna’s veil high during the processional and sent it sailing sideways under the balloons without anyone having to toss it. The hard light made the bay sparkle behind the arch, a backdrop that only gets better in full sun. By the end of the speeches the light had softened and the marina had turned pink.
Kites were the gift of the day. Kitesurfers were out over the bay, so on the sand we waited for a kite to drift into the gap above the couple before asking for the kiss. The railing above the water gave a second kite frame and a place to lean. Back at the clubhouse, the dark hedge against pale render made a calm spot for close portraits. Inside, the big bay windows behind the guest tables kept the table portraits fresh and full of daylight.
For a sunny rooftop ceremony, have hand fans and water ready for guests; the rows here were full of fans and sunglasses, and they kept everyone smiling. Let your bridal party walk the beach in shoes they do not mind getting sandy, because that is where the fun really came out, lifts and all. And when the sky starts to colour after the speeches, step out with your bridesmaids and families in quick turns, because the pink over the marina does not wait for anyone.